Prior constructed boom mounted vibratory compactors are illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,917,426 issued Nov. 4, 1975 to Wohlwend, et al. and in 4,224,003 issued Sept. 23, 1980 to Paul T. St. Louis. Each of these patents illustrates hydraulic motor powered vibrating plate compactors which are primarily intended for compacting soil, gravel and the like. Each has the vibratory motor and vibration apparatus mounted on the base plate of the compactor and each includes apparatus for isolating the vibration from the boom while permitting the boom to load the compactor to press downwardly on the material being compacted.
The compactor illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,917,426 includes four corner located elastomeric shear springs that are connected at their outboard ends near the periphery of the base plate. The inboard ends of the springs are connected to a connection member which joins the compactor to the boom. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,224,003, the vibratory compactor includes a centrally located upstanding support member mounted on the base plate to which the inboard ends of four elastomeric springs are connected. The outboard ends of the elastomeric springs are connected to the connecting members which join the vibratory compactor to the loading boom.
A comparison of the above devices illustrates that e compactor of U.S. Pat. No. 4,224,003 is basically centrally loaded, while the compactor of U.S. Pat. No. 3,917,426 is peripherally loaded. In both cases, the compactors are relatively small and are intended for the purpose of compressing or compacting materials that require a relatively high compaction pressure.
Recently, with the large amount of trash that must be moved from metropolitan areas, a need has arisen for some means for loading the trash into transporting vehicles such as trucks or railway cars and applying a force to such trash to compact it so that more trash can be carried by each vehicle. In addition to the desirability of having a much larger base plate for the faster compaction of the more easily compacted material, trash is frequently very uneven and non-homogeneous when dumped into the vehicle, thus the compactor must be capable of withstanding relatively high eccentric loading.
An object of this invention is to provide a vibratory compactor for use with loading booms that can be made relatively large and yet will withstand the eccentric loads encountered in compacting materials such as trash.